Less Wrong articles categorized by reading difficulty

post by lukeprog · 2012-09-03T00:45:59.996Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 10 comments

Contents

  For everyone
None
10 comments

One thing that could help new users dive into Less Wrong would be to make some reading recommendations based on reading difficulty. (I'm including some things not hosted on LessWrong.com when they're very LessWrong-ish and written by leading LessWrong authors.) For example:

 

For everyone

 


For those with some math and statistics

For mathgods

Now, I ask: What are some of your favorite articles in each of these categories?

 

10 comments

Comments sorted by top scores.

comment by kilobug · 2012-09-03T08:18:12.641Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I think http://lesswrong.com/lw/od/37_ways_that_words_can_be_wrong/ is a good starting point too, it summarizes a lot of important things and give links to details for each (in the "for everyone" category).

Replies from: Bobertron
↑ comment by Bobertron · 2012-09-03T11:43:24.304Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I consider diseased thinking to be an unofficial part of the sequence on words (of which "37 ways words can be wrong" is the hub). It gives an example for how words can influence our thinking that is not contrived, practical, not obvious and important. It's a nice example of clear thinking.

comment by [deleted] · 2012-09-03T03:53:11.888Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The Technical Explanation of Technical Explanation link points to How to Beat Procrastination instead of the intended article.

Replies from: lukeprog
↑ comment by lukeprog · 2012-09-03T06:34:30.080Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Fixed.

comment by Alicorn · 2012-09-03T02:08:43.400Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

mathgods

I've seen "mathgoods" before. "Mathgods" must be even better!

Replies from: None
↑ comment by [deleted] · 2012-09-04T01:02:21.960Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

But still nowhere near as awesome as superhero mathematicians.

comment by NancyLebovitz · 2012-09-03T03:10:10.312Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

For everyone: Alicorn's Ureshiku Naritai, though I suggest a clearer title.

Replies from: Alicorn
↑ comment by Alicorn · 2012-09-03T03:16:44.837Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

It means "I want to become happier", a la "tsuyoku naritai" meaning "I want to become stronger".

Replies from: Zaine
↑ comment by Zaine · 2012-09-03T09:09:30.206Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The analogue is clever and clear, however I don't think it carries the same cultural connotations. 強くなりたい is a somewhat commonly expressed phrase, whereas 嬉しくなりたい sounds just as odd in Japanese as it does in English.

Perhaps Nancy meant that the title stretches the apropos use of Japanese in evincing the message of an essay written in English.

Replies from: NancyLebovitz
↑ comment by NancyLebovitz · 2012-09-03T11:34:45.185Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I meant that I wouldn't be nearly as likely to look at an article with a Japanese title (especially as someone new to LW who wouldn't know to expect good stuff from Alicorn) as an article with a title in English which gave me something specific to be interested in.